Football: Staff strike at Windsor leaves Lancers without head coach

Football coach Mike Morencie, as a unionized employee, has to step aside as long as his union is out. Four other Windsor coaches are affected, but only one, cross-country/track and field's Dennis Fairall, is in-season.

Laurier was in a similar starts six years ago, in 2002. Then-coach Rick Zmich had to step away from the team. The athletic therapy staff also had to leave, which meant players had to go to the hospital off-campus for treatment, which needless to say was tremendous inconvenience. It also meant slower recovery time from those nagging injuries -- bruises, muscle pulls and such. Laurier ended up 1-7 that season, although they actually finished in the black in point differential, imagine that (you can guess who the "1" was -- actually, as of 10:05 p.m. on September 1, those jokes can no longer be made).

Again, it's very early in the game with this, but it's bound to be a distraction for Windsor, especially if practice times get shifted to avoid dealing with picketers.